There are people who are often remembered even after their death. This is especially true for public persons. The article will talk about an athlete named Vernon Forrest - a man who was able to become a multiple world boxing champion. We will talk more about his life path.
Birth and start of boxing
Forrest Vernon was born into a family of black parents on February 12, 1971 in the US state of Georgia. Our hero grew up in a large family. Already at the age of nine, Vernon became involved in boxing. Eleven years after the start of training, he was able to become the champion of his country. And a year after reaching this peak, he completely won the world title among amateurs. However, Forrest Vernon did not become Olympic champion. After receiving the right to speak at the Olympic Games, which were then held in Barcelona, the American literally a day before the start of the start of the most important boxing tournament among amateurs received severe food poisoning. Therefore, his defeat in the first match was quite natural.
Transition to Professionals
The failure at the Olympics only spurred Forrest to go into professional boxing. At the time of completing his amateur career, the fighter had 225 victories in 241 fights.
Already the first fights in the professional ring showed that Vernon is a real star that can achieve a lot in this tough sport. Carrying out the first seven fights, he did not linger in the square of the ring for more than three rounds, since all his rivals were knocked out for just such a period of time.
First professional titles
After the fourteenth battle, Vernon Forrest won the title of International Boxing Council.
The next significant duel for the American took place on August 26, 2000. In that battle, he fought with Raul Frank. At stake was the vacant IBF Welterweight title. In the third round, the boxers clashed their heads, as a result of which both were unable to continue the fight. The judges decided to issue a no contest verdict. Their second meeting took place on May 12, 2001, after which Forrest celebrated the victory.
Duel with Mosley
In January 2002, Vernon Forrest, whose fights were popular among the discerning public, entered the ring to challenge the world title with then-current champion Shane Mosley. The fight was held at the famous Madison Square Garden arena.
Before this fight, all experts were unanimous in the opinion that the victory would go to Mosley. Moreover, many of the experts believed that Shane would not receive any significant dividends from this gain. At the same time, for Forrest this fight was a fight of his life, because he could break into the elite of world boxing in the event of his victory. Also, many remembered that during the selection for the 1992 Olympics, Mosley lost to Forrest. In addition, in 2000, Vernon was not able to defeat anyone, but Oscar de La Hoyu himself.
Six thousand spectators gathered near the arena, constantly chanting: "Sean, Sean!". However, their idol was not destined to win. In the second round, Mosley was knocked down, which plunged the public and experts into shock. No one expected this turn of events. And although Shane managed to pull himself together and even send Forrest to the knockdown in the eleventh round, nevertheless, in the end, Vernon celebrated the victory with a judicial decision.
Six months later, the revenge of these two boxers took place, in which Vernon Forrest turned out to be the strongest again. These two very significant victories led the International Boxing Hall to give their preference to the Viper and recognize him as the best boxer of 2002.
Loss of title
March 25, 2003 Forrest held a unifying match with WBA world champion Ricardo Mayorga. In that battle, the American for some reason adopted the manner of battle of the Nicaraguan and began with him what is called "chopping." At the end of the first three minutes, Mayorga hit Forrest with a hail of blows and forced him to be on the floor, although this happened only because the American tripped over his opponent’s leg. However, the referee counted a very controversial knockdown. In the middle of the third round, Mayorga launched several side impacts and forced Vernon to snuggle up to the ropes. After that, Ricardo again carried out a side impact and sent Forrest to the canvas of the ring. The American immediately got up, but the referee considered that the boxer was in an inadequate condition and stopped the fight.
In July 2003, Forrest Vernon had a rematch with Mayorga, but was defeated again. True, this time the Nicaraguan won by a majority of the referees.
Career continuation
In 2006, Vernon returned to the ring and defeated Ike Quarty by a decision of the judges. However, many experts unanimously agreed that the victory was simply presented to the American.
A year later, Vernon Forrest met Carlos Manuel Baldomir and boxed with him for the vacant WBC world middleweight title and defeated him on points.
Back on top
At the end of 2007, Vernon came out for the first time to defend his WBC title against ex-IBF champion Michele Pichirillo. This fight was supposed to take place in 2002, but then the American decided to have a rematch with Mosley.
In the sixth round, Vernon knocked the Italian down, although Forrest's last blow hit the back of the head. In the ninth round, the American again forced the referee to count Michele's knockdown, because he was on his knees after missing a left hook in the jaw. Vernon tried to finish off the opponent, but the opponent completely blocked and went into the dead defense.
In the end, the fight still ended with a knockout of Pichirillo in the 11th round. This happened after the right cross Vernon. At the same time, the Italian suffered a leg injury at the time of his fall.
Sunset career
The biography of the boxer (Forrest Vernon is no exception) will not be complete, if not to mention his last fights.
June 7, 2008 an American fought with the undefeated at that time Sergio Morea. The fight was very controversial and the judges preferred the Sea after all 12 rounds. As for the opinions of experts invited to the channel, they did not have a clear winner.
This result of the battle was surprising to many, also because Forrest and Mora often sparred and, according to eyewitnesses, Vernon always had an undeniable advantage.
Literally two months later, a rematch of these boxers took place, in which Forrest was better. He managed to control the progress of the match and win all the rounds.
Having won the title again, Vernon was no longer in a hurry to defend it, all the more so since the fastest and very technical Argentinean Martinez would be his closest rival. A long downtime without fights led to the fact that on May 21, 2009, Forrest was stripped of his title.
Death
A sports biography (Vernon Forrest is a vivid confirmation of this) is interesting to many people, especially when it comes to champions.
Unfortunately, the fate of the American was tragic. On July 25, 2009, Vernon inflated the tires of his car at a gas station. At the same time, two criminals jumped out of a car that arrived and attempted to steal an athlete’s car. Forrest had a gun with him and began chasing the robbers, which led to the start of a shootout, which resulted in eight bullets fired at Vernon. One of them hit the former champion in the head. Already in August, all the robbers were found and arrested.
The funeral of the legendary boxer, which took place on August 3, was attended by such eminent athletes as: Evander Holyfield, Buddy McGirt, Robert Allen, Antonio Tarver and others.